Jose ManuelJoel Basa
Jose ManuelJoel Basa
Creative Director, Design Team Leader, & Brand Strategist
With over 20 years of experience leading cross-functional creative teams, I specialize in transforming strategy into impactful visual stories and brand experiences. I’m passionate about connecting business objectives with design excellence to build brands that inspire trust, loyalty, and engagement.
Currently, as Creative Services Manager on the Paychex Internal Communications team, I oversee creative strategy and relationship development while directing a talented group of graphic designers, web developers, and videographers. Together, we craft presentations, videos, podcasts, web experiences, and brand campaigns that bring the Paychex strategy, culture, and story to life.
Previously, I led .com and brand development teams at Xerox, guiding initiatives that strengthened global brand identity and digital engagement.
LEADERSHIP THAT ELEVATES CREATIVITY
I believe in leading with inspiration, clarity, and collaboration. My approach fosters a creative culture that encourages curiosity, empowers individual voices, and aligns design thinking with measurable business outcomes. I take pride in helping team members grow their craft while advancing organizational goals.
ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSPECTIVE
Beyond the corporate world, I apply my leadership and brand expertise as co-owner of Five Points Training, a thriving dog agility training business I run with my wife. Acting as both COO and CMO, I develop marketing strategies, shape customer experiences, and oversee operations—blending creativity, data, and process to grow a trusted regional brand.
Leading Creative, Building Brands
Paychex Virtual All Company Experience
Transforming an all-company meeting into a dynamic digital experience that brought 15,000 employees together.
Overview:
When the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person gatherings impossible, I partnered directly with the C-Suite to lead the creative direction for the first-ever Paychex All Company Virtual Meeting. Our challenge was clear: find a way to connect and inspire every employee—remotely—while still capturing the energy and authenticity of a live event.
Approach:
My team and I brought together technology, design, and storytelling to craft an engaging, interactive experience that felt anything but typical. We collaborated with the Paychex Events Team and external production partners to produce a broadcast that mixed live and pre-recorded content, strong visual design, and clear messaging—all aligned to showcase the Paychex brand, culture, and strategy.
Impact:
The results exceeded expectations. Over 15,000 employees attended (a 94% participation rate) and the event generated more than 27,000 live interactions through chat, Q&A, and engagement tools. It became a model for how Paychex could bring people together in a virtual setting—and proved that with creativity and collaboration, even the most traditional corporate meetings can become meaningful brand experiences.
Refreshing an Iconic Brand: Xerox
Reimagining a global brand system while honoring one of the most recognizable names in technology.
Overview:
As the Xerox brand lead, I partnered with a global brand design agency to guide a major refresh of the Xerox visual and verbal identity system. Our goal was to modernize the brand while staying true to its legacy—elevating how Xerox showed up across every channel, from print and web to tradeshows and global communications.
Approach:
I served as the key liaison between internal stakeholders, agency partners, and the executive team, ensuring alignment on creative direction, tone, and design standards. The refresh included a complete update to both the Xerox and Fuji Xerox (Japan) brand systems, bringing them together under a unified identity. We developed seven channel-specific brand guideline sets covering everything from social and digital to environmental design and signage, making the system practical, flexible, and scalable across markets.
Impact:
Once the new brand launched, I led the internal activation strategy, helping teams across the organization understand, adopt, and champion the updated identity. The refresh not only unified two brands but also created a more cohesive and globally consistent presence—setting a strong foundation for how Xerox communicates its innovation and purpose to the world.
Launching a Fortune 500 Website..in about 100 days
Building a brand-new digital presence for a Fortune 500 company on an accelerated timeline.
Overview:
When Xerox spun off its services organization into the new company Conduent, I led a lean web team tasked with launching Conduent.com—from the ground up—in just over 100 days. The challenge: create a fully functional, on-brand digital experience that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s leading technology companies on day one.
Approach:
With a core team of two web producers and close collaboration with a third-party interactive agency, we moved quickly to define the technology stack, select platforms, and establish a digital brand style guide. I oversaw content migration, CRM integration, and SEO strategy, ensuring the site was technically sound, visually aligned with the new brand, and optimized for discoverability and performance.
Impact:
In just a few short months, Conduent.com launched successfully—on time, on brand, and ready to scale. The project became a model for cross-functional collaboration, agile digital development, and brand activation under tight deadlines, proving that strategic direction and disciplined execution can deliver enterprise-level results fast.
Evolving an Established UX Team
Transforming a traditional UX organization into a strategic partner for product innovation.
Overview:
When I joined Paychex, I stepped into an established User Experience and Product Design team with an opportunity to take it to the next level. The goal was to evolve how UX supported Product Management, strengthen collaboration across disciplines, and expand the team’s influence within the company’s agile product development ecosystem.
Approach:
The existing team included UX Designers and UX Researchers, but a growing need for stronger content design and messaging across Paychex Flex, our flagship application, became clear. Partnering with another internal organization, I helped seed and launch the UX Content Design team—a new discipline dedicated to shaping clear, consistent, and user-centered communication across the platform.
Impact:
What began as a small initiative has since grown into a team of 10 UX Content Designers now embedded within nearly every agile product team at Paychex. This evolution not only elevated the role of UX in product development but also strengthened the connection between design, content, and business strategy, ensuring a more cohesive and meaningful experience for users.
Before and After
Design Meets Dog Hair
Personal Brand Identity Exercise
I wanted a personal brand that reflected both my creative background and my Filipino heritage. As a dog agility judge and trainer, I designed a mark inspired by the Philippine flag, incorporating hand-drawn agility elements to represent motion and energy. It’s a small creative project that combines my culture, craft, and passion for the sport.
Small Business Branding – Five Points Training
Each year, my wife and I create new branded “merch” for Five Points Training, our dog agility business. I design the annual collections—from concept and mockups to final production—keeping the look fresh, playful, and true to our community’s spirit. It’s a small but meaningful way to connect design with passion and bring our brand to life for the students who make Five Points Training what it is.
Here are a few more examples of designs we use to promote our business. These include signage/banners, social promotions, etc.
And also…
